Friday, May 23, 2014

A few weeks ago I had a brief conversation with author
friend Lori A. Moore about people setting a time limit on grieving or any kind
of grief for that matter.

Grief doesn’t have to be only from losing a loved
one, but comes in many forms.This is a subject
I’ve studied extensively for counseling people.

There are numerous reasons why we grieve. People grieve over a job, pet,
relationship, bad decisions, material things or loss of dreams.Did you know that women even grieve over moving?

Lori made it clear that she doesn’t believe there
is a time one should “be over it,”
but there is a process along the journey.

She explains in her book “Missing Andy” how she
had to walk out the process with God in order to regain the “living” part of
her life.

It was her journey through grief that “furthered
her relationship with God and showed her how to truly live again. Come out of a
place of inconsolable sadness and discover the joy that can only be found
through Christ Jesus.” (Description quote)

Turning something that was meant for bad into good
can only take place when you learn the meaning of trusting God.

Moving on from our past and the things we know is
one of the hardest things someone can do.Unfortunately, I can say this from too many experiences where I had to
let go of my emotions in order to move forward in my life.

Feel free to leave your comments or prayer requests.I would love to hear from you and how Daily
Favor has worked in your life. If I’ve missed anyone forgive me. Please share this
challenge and invite more friends to join us.You are making a difference!

It’s funny that I’m sharing this writing with you
this week.I wrote it on April 10th
2014, but the timing wasn’t right.

How I came about writing this was triggered by some
teaching and a single movie clip from years ago that helped me step out in faith
after some tragedies.Yes, there have been
a ton of books and videos that I watched to help me deal with the emotional
part of loss and some helped.

However, there was a silly opening scene from
Night at the Museum 2 (Smithsonian) that my husband and I have ingrained in our
thoughts whenever the devil tries to suck us back in past hurts...“Let it
go, baby!”

It seems that the Apostle Paul felt the same way ...“Brothers and sister
(in Christ), as I said, I know I have not arrived; but there’s one thing I am doing: I’m leaving my old life behind, (letting
it go) putting everything on the line for this mission (journey).I am sprinting toward the only goal that
counts: to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God’s call to
resurrection life found exclusively in Jesus the Anointed.” (from Philippians 3:13-14 the Voice)

Vessels of Grace

About ten years ago there was a woman in our
church that couldn’t let go of her pain and guilt.The problem wasn’t something she did, but
what she felt she didn’t do.Her teenage
son committed suicide. The devil tried
convincing her that it was her fault, even though it wasn’t true.

The grief and emotional roller coaster she
experienced literally prevented her from leaving her house and functioning in
society.It almost destroyed her
marriage.

Instead of giving in to fear, by faith her husband
allowed God to work through him and her other children.The process was slow, but it was a journey the
family needed to take with God where they learned “we are vessels of grace.”

Beyond the Comfort Fence

There will be a time in all of our lives where we
will have to go beyond what we know.Some refer to it as “leaving their comfort zone.”

When we moved from all that we knew in life
our lives changed dramatically – some good, some bad events transpired over the
course of a few short years.

There were things I was holding on to that I wasn't aware of until after we moved. Bitterness, anger, resentment and unforgiveness stemmed as far back to when I was four years old.

Not having television or a car allowed me plenty of time to think. That's when my writing really got serious and so did my walk with God.

I knew if I didn’t get my act togetheremotionallythat I would never reach any more of my goals or my potential.My life could have easily been swept away in
depression, self-pity and disappointment.

God showed me through simple things that were
taking place in my “new life” how to move from the past and let things go.Honestly, this wasn’t easy at first, but as I
practiced what I learned the healing would come.

Lessons from My Dog

It has to make you laugh at times when God reveals
things to you in the most unusual forms, for example, my dog.

When Sunshine and I went on our walks, she was
always on a lead and could only go as far as the leash stretched.If I dropped the leash on the ground she
would sit down at my feet.

Even if I
moved away from her, she wouldn’t move, I mean ever.It was if she was ground tied.I never taught her that, she did it on her
own (making me look good).It was a
behavior I needed to retrain if she was to experience new things I had planned
for her.

While traveling in New York there were places we
visited in Lake George that had great open fields where we could run our
pets.One particular place I loved the entire football field was fenced.

We decided to take the pets off the leashes and
let them go, running free to do what they were meant to do in life – be happy,
carefree and one with nature.As soon as
I took off the leash, Sunshine would run around in every direction literally
popping in the air.Although she was free
to play, she was always aware of where I was on the field and kept me in her
sight.

Sunshine would run a bit and then run right back
to me.When I called her away from an
unsafe place she listened and moved with me trusting that the decision was in
her best interest.God showed me/us that no matter where we go, He is
worthy of our trust.The Lord is always
going to be there and His Holy Spirit will comfort us as we venture into new
territories.He isn’t leading us into
places that will cause us harm.

Moving the
Boundaries

Our lessons of trust and moving past our comfort
zone wasn’t nearly over.If we are to
grow on our journey with Jesus we have to get our “emotional pain” under control.That will take moving beyond our own boundaries of
faith and into God’s faith world.

A few years ago we realized that Sunshine needed
to move past some pain in her life both physically and emotionally.Her sister moved to Heaven and so we wanted
her to build new relationships with our neighbor’s dog.In order to do that we had to make a big
decision – move the fence!

When we moved the boundaries of the fence and
created a new larger space for Sunshine, she still wouldn’t go past the old
fence line.The fence wasn’t there, but
in her mind it was and she refused to cross over to the new area beyond the
former boundaries.

Invisible Fences

Even though we enlarged her world, Sunshine stayed
in the “old” part of the yard with invisible fences holding her back.Is that what’s happening in your world?Perhaps God is trying to get you to cross
over into the new things and has removed some fence boundaries in your life,
but you are being bound by invisible fences.

It took some retraining, but my pup learned that I
was always with her guiding her into the new territory.Don’t you get it?I was the one who moved the fence and
expanded her boundaries.She didn’t ask
me to do it, nor did I consult her on my actions.Her “Master” saw that giving her more room would
help her stay emotionally and physically fit.Once she accepted the move, Sunshine thrived in the new area.

For the longest time we could still see where the
fence used to be.It took a few summers
for the grass to completely cover the line, and now you can’t even tell where
the old fence was.

Holding on to God and letting go of the past.

Unleashed Faith

Sometimes God takes off the short leash we had as
new born Christians and moves the fences in our lives to stretch our
faith.It is a testing that is implemented
to encourage us to step out in faith knowing that God will be with us no matter
where the fences are moved.

In the new places He takes us, we learn different
ways or approaches that we never knew existed or were needed.Instead of getting overtaken by the “grief”
of whatever it is, God helps us take that new approach so we can accomplish
greater things for Him.

Jesus gave us a reason to hope when He made the
statement that we would do greater things than He did.How could that be possible?All things are possible with God when we
unleash our faith and act on His promises.

“Jesus said to him, “If
you (He meant you or me) can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23 NKJV)Knowing Christ said we will do greater things
tells us that there is more to be done, and that God wants to do it through
us.How exciting is that?

A preacher once spoke on a conversation he had
with God (in his spirit, not vocally). The Lord asked him this question: “What
things would you do if you had unlimited resources and money?”

I can imagine a list of things that popped in your
head as did in mine when I heard him share this story.You might even say, “…but I don’t
have those things.”Once more, “What if you did?”You would be able to do all sorts of things,
but that wouldn’t require faith.

God
wants us to understand we do have access to anything through Christ Jesus, but
it will come through our faith when we let go of what’s holding us in the same
places.

Challenge of the Week:

Unleash Your Faith

Every person who has chosen to walk this journey
to Jesus on Daily Favor is experiencing new growth, whatever the level or pace.God is removing some boundaries and asking us
to let go of things that are stopping Him from taking us beyond our
expectations or “more than we could ask or dream.”

Our challenge will require three things of us.

First: Literally write
down the things that you haven’t let go of that are stopping your promotion in
God’s favor.These are the things that
are keeping you bound and preventing you from being the best you. Be honest, you’re dreams
and desires are at risk here.Bring that
list into your prayer closet and give them to the Lord one by one.

After you’ve prayed put the list inside an envelope.On the front write this statement:

“These no longer
belong to me but God, because I let them go.”

Then tuck it into your Bible at Mark 9:23 as if
you were handing it to God Himself.Use
the Bible as your point of contact, believing all things are possible with God.Ask Him to strengthen you as you take this
step of faith not to steal back what
you have given over to the Lord.

The next two steps involve memorization of God’s
promises, so when satan tries to talk you out of your deliverance, you can say,
“Not this time devil, I’ve got a promise from
God!”

Second: If we are to
believe by faith for our dreams, we have to believe God will first meet our
needs.Memorize Philippians 4:19.

“And my God shall
supply all (speak your name here) according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus.”

Expect things to start going according to your
prayers based on God’s Word.It’s easy
to recognize huge things, but make sure you don’t overlook the smallest boundary
changes.God is doing something, notice
Him.

Third:Every day (even past this week’s quest ending)
pray the Disciple’s Prayer (some call it the Lord’s Prayer) in Matthew.When you pray
it, not quote, it something changes in the Heavenly atmosphere realm.As you pray “us and our” be mindful that it
is referring to the entire Body of Christ, not just you or your family.

By praying for others, your prayers will be heard. In turn, God will respond to
your faith granting His unlimited grace, mercy and favor.

Jesus said, after this
manner pray (say it like this):

Our Father, which is in Heaven, Holy is Your
Name.

Your Kingdom come, Your
will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our
daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from (all) evil: For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever.Amen.” (taken from Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV)

When we call on the Lord to lead us, we can freely
let go of old painful boundaries and walk into a new life of hope. Don’t count yourself out based on the fact
that you lost your way on the path.Hold
on to the One who is faithful and makes all things possible.

Let your faith run wide (not your behavior) into
places where you can grow.In showing
yourself faithful, God will expand the boundaries. With your “griefs, worries and boundaries” taken
away by the blood seal promise of Jesus, you are now an empty vessel waiting to
be filled and used for the greater things. Unleash your faith; let it (faith) go
and see where God takes you.